Weeks before they clashed on screen during public impeachment hearings, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) reportedly got into a heated exchange in the Capitol basement.
The two men argued over which one of them spent more time talking to the media about impeachment, according to a new deposition transcript obtained by Fox News. It appears that the two men’s testy relationship is not just a public phenomenon, but a private matter as well.
Closed-door clash
At the time of the confrontation, Jordan was leading a Republican effort to attack Schiff for selectively leaking testimony to the media, in what Republicans called an effort to shape a false narrative about Trump and Ukraine. Things escalated when Jordan accused Schiff of breaking his own rules to share private testimony with the press.
“The chairman should follow his own rules,” Jordan said during the deposition of former White House Deputy National Security Adviser Charles Kupperman, who ultimately did not appear for the proceeding. “Every single deposition, when it ends, you tell us, this is — under the deposition rules we’re not supposed to go out and share information. But on Sunday, on a national news channel…you went on a Sunday show and directly quoted what that person said in his testimony.”
Schiff fired back that “no one has appeared before the cameras more than you to discuss these proceedings.”
According to the transcript, Jordan also pursued Schiff over a continued point of contention between the two men: his staff’s contacts with the “whistleblower.” Jordan said that Schiff knew who the whistleblower was after Schiff accused Jordan of doing “long-term damage to the institution, to your credibility, to your ability to do oversight” by defending Trump’s efforts to block the impeachment inquiry.
“If we’re going to talk about weakening this institution, we’re going to talk about the guy who had his staff talk with the whistleblower,” Jordan said.
Hard feelings
The transcript highlights a very public conflict between the two lawmakers that was apparent throughout two weeks of televised impeachment hearings. Jordan, who was temporarily assigned to the Intelligence Committee for the express purpose of defending Trump, repeatedly pressed Schiff about the “whistleblower” throughout the “Schiff Show.”
The California Democrat repeatedly denied knowing the identity of the whistleblower under pressure from his Republican counterpart. Jordan said that “no one believes” Schiff’ s denials after Jordan grilled a witness about an unidentified member of the intelligence community — prompting Schiff to interrupt Jordan’s questioning.
“I don’t see how this is outing the whistleblower,” Jordan said. “The witness has testified in his deposition that he doesn’t know who the whistleblower is. You have said, even though no one believes you, you have said you don’t know who the whistleblower is.”
With the impeachment now moving on to the Judiciary Committee, Schiff’s leading role appears to be over — and House Democrats are finally releasing the remaining transcripts from the closed-door part of the inquiry. Democrats released two transcripts sought by Republicans Tuesday: transcripts which recorded depositions given by budget official Mark Sandy and diplomat Philip Reeker, as well as transcripts for the no-shows like Kupperman.
Kupperman bowed out after Democrats withdrew their subpoena, not wanting to get caught up in a court battle.
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